OneStaple
Well-Known Member
Hey all,
My primary hobby is woodworking, so I thought I'd try my hand at making some end-grain cutting boards. Three are done now (pictures to follow) but I've got another 9 almost done.
Purchased woods for these boards included soft maple, hard maple, black walnut, and padauk. I also used some scraps of purpleheart and osage orange that I had around. All woods were selected to have low silica content and be within a reasonable hardness range for knife edges. Ok, the purpleheart has some silica content, but it was necessary for one of the gift boards and is going to a non-knife enthusiast.
I also selected wood types and orientations (radial vs. tangential wood directions, also described as flat sawn vs. quarter sawn) to minimize stresses as the boards expand and contract with humidity. For instance, some boards use both hard and soft maple to better match expansion/contraction with other woods that they'll "interact" with in a board.
I started this with the intention of making two boards as gifts and 3-4 for ourselves. Well, when you're buying 8'-12' boards and have limits on widths available, you end up with extra wood. So I mapped out what I could make with all the scraps and ended up with 12 boards total, including some that I really like.
I asked some questions on here a few months back about what features people do/don't like. A whole lot of people like feet, so I've been adding those. I'm not sure I'll use them on the smallest boards though (still to be completed). I sourced some silicone feet specifically for cutting boards and am quite happy with them. They're inset 5/16" into the bottom of the boards, making them sit 1/4" proud of the surface. That allows enough room to get your fingers under the edges to lift without making the height ridiculous.
You'll see on the third cutting board that I included an emblem (1.25" diameter) that I recently created for myself. I plan to start adding this to my woodworking projects. Some day I'd like to try my hand at knives and will likely use a smaller version of the same logo.
FIRST BOARD
This was a gift for my brother-in-law's wedding. It's made of purpleheart, padauk, and hard maple. The pictures REALLY don't do it justice in terms of colors (sorry, bad cell phone pictures in poor lighting). The red and purple are much more brilliant. Size is approximately 13" x 18.5" x 1.5". I forgot to take final measurements before giving the gift.
SECOND BOARD
Walnut and soft maple board for a gift for my sister and brother-in-law (different BIL from the previous board). Dimensions are approximately 15" x 18" x 2". Again, I forgot to measure before giving it away.
Tyler
My primary hobby is woodworking, so I thought I'd try my hand at making some end-grain cutting boards. Three are done now (pictures to follow) but I've got another 9 almost done.
Purchased woods for these boards included soft maple, hard maple, black walnut, and padauk. I also used some scraps of purpleheart and osage orange that I had around. All woods were selected to have low silica content and be within a reasonable hardness range for knife edges. Ok, the purpleheart has some silica content, but it was necessary for one of the gift boards and is going to a non-knife enthusiast.
I also selected wood types and orientations (radial vs. tangential wood directions, also described as flat sawn vs. quarter sawn) to minimize stresses as the boards expand and contract with humidity. For instance, some boards use both hard and soft maple to better match expansion/contraction with other woods that they'll "interact" with in a board.
I started this with the intention of making two boards as gifts and 3-4 for ourselves. Well, when you're buying 8'-12' boards and have limits on widths available, you end up with extra wood. So I mapped out what I could make with all the scraps and ended up with 12 boards total, including some that I really like.
I asked some questions on here a few months back about what features people do/don't like. A whole lot of people like feet, so I've been adding those. I'm not sure I'll use them on the smallest boards though (still to be completed). I sourced some silicone feet specifically for cutting boards and am quite happy with them. They're inset 5/16" into the bottom of the boards, making them sit 1/4" proud of the surface. That allows enough room to get your fingers under the edges to lift without making the height ridiculous.
You'll see on the third cutting board that I included an emblem (1.25" diameter) that I recently created for myself. I plan to start adding this to my woodworking projects. Some day I'd like to try my hand at knives and will likely use a smaller version of the same logo.
FIRST BOARD
This was a gift for my brother-in-law's wedding. It's made of purpleheart, padauk, and hard maple. The pictures REALLY don't do it justice in terms of colors (sorry, bad cell phone pictures in poor lighting). The red and purple are much more brilliant. Size is approximately 13" x 18.5" x 1.5". I forgot to take final measurements before giving the gift.
SECOND BOARD
Walnut and soft maple board for a gift for my sister and brother-in-law (different BIL from the previous board). Dimensions are approximately 15" x 18" x 2". Again, I forgot to measure before giving it away.
Tyler
